Atari video game cartridges unearthed in New Mexico desert

In 1983, Atari reportedly disposed of thousands of video game cartridges, including the commercially unsuccessful E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, at a municipal landfill in Alamogordo, New Mexico. While Atari executives at the time, such as Bruce Entin, claimed the hardware was merely defective or returned by customers, rumors persisted for decades regarding the scale of the disposal.

In 2014, an excavation effort confirmed the legend, unearthing approximately 1,300 cartridges in just three hours. The operation revealed that semi-trailers filled with boxes, consoles, and cartridges had been buried under the desert sands. One of the recovered items eventually found its way to the Smithsonian Institution.